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Restoring a 1975 BB Suburban

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emuplayer66

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I have a 454 2wD 1975 Silverado Sub. Its in really good shape...one rust spot in the rocker panel driverside between the 2 doors.

I am the second owner....I bought it from an estate sale. It sat for awhile before I bought it sooo.....it leaks from everywhere,,,,valve covers, intake manifold...etc

I had my mechanic give it a tune up a few years ago and now it hauls ass! But in only runs on 91 octane. It has the original manifold intake, with a 600 quadrajet, and a k&n filter....Id like to enhance performance, but maybe move to 87 octane gasoline.

Can anyone help me move in the right direction...fix oil leaks, remove smog stuff, upgrade intake manifold, upgrade carb, add a better exhuast system....save a lil gas?
 
I thought the Q-Jet was a 800CFM rated Carb? Is it a 3/4 ton or 1/2 ton? How many miles are on it? What do you want it to be capable of? Whats your budget and what are your mechanical abilities in terms of personal ability as well as your tools.
 
Dial the timing back a few degrees. It won't feel as peppy but you'll be able to run 87. Pretty sure a stock 1975 vintage 454 should have the proper compression ratio to run 87, someone correct me if I'm wrong. This was about the beginning for lower compression engines and the intro of smog equipment.

And the timing thing is a guess based on you saying someone did a tune up. They got it to run great.... but at a price.
 
Yes, my 1975 uses 87 fuel no problem. Sounds like you need to turn the timing back a few degrees and you should be able to run 87 octane without issue.
 
It is a 3/4. Maybe it si a 800 cfm quadrajet...how do I check? Like I said it runs great, but it feels like it could use some headers and some flowmasters...it has some long ass rusty glass packs,,,they sound good, Im almost tempeted to put ne glass packs attached to some nice headers.

As far as what I want to do with it....well thats been a mess...I bought a 75 cuz I live in cali and I wanted to be smog free and make it an AZUSA mud bogger....bought I even bought a donor 87 3/4 350 4x4 sub....then I bought a 73 Blazer on 39.5 boggers.....the I sold everything but the 75....Now the 75 is my daily driver and I want to restore it rather than chop it up or do a resto mod with a lil lift...I got some 35x12.5 red label General Grabbers on 20 bling as part of the sale for the 73 jimmy....Sometimes I think stay stock...sometimes I think itll look cool 2wd with a 4 inch lift and the bling....

Should I put a new carb and new intake manifold...recommendations?

I want to save gas $....and not have to take a huge hit on performance....
 
Sounds like a cool burban and you have some good ideas. And on the right track with pre 75.

But I'm.confused? You want to lift and keep 2 wd or convert to 4x4?

Mud races?

You have a lot of options, just depends what you want to do with it and with why budget over the long run.

Please take some advice from those who have done all this before
 
I have done the resto-mod thing to my 79. You may have seen me in chino/chino hills. My pickup is white with blue stripe and an aluminum ladder rack and aluminum tool boxes. It has a cowl induction hood, and can be heard a mile away sometimes. I can get 10 mpg with all of the smog equipment and make more torque than a lot of factory big blocks but there is no way i can run 87 in mine.

you can try changing the timing: initial timing, mechanical advance amount, advance rate, vacuum advance amount and amount of vacuum required to activate advance. If the engine has been rebuilt it could have a higher compression ratio and may not like 87. It would be surprising if it hadn't been rebuilt in 35 years, but it's possible.

The q jet I had on my 79 was a 795 cfm model 1903 if i recall correctly.

I used to ask my mechanic uncle about getting more power out of my cheaply rebuilt 350. He either shinned me on or said it would need work on everything to make a big improvement. Well, he was right. I took care of my truck, so it ran to its potential, but the parts were only designed to or built to make 165 hp. Everything needed help.

I do recall the difference between when my dad drove the truck and then gave it to me, and then after the first tune up we did on it together. Before it struggled to do 65, after it was easy to do the speed limit.

Let me know if you have questions or want to meet up and bs. about trucks.
 
Cool! CGT80 maybe we can meet up and drink a few beers...and take a look at my BURB. My problem is I need to prioritize and the fact that I change my mind on how to proceed with it...

It just helps when I can talk thru different senarios.
 
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